Jan

18

Written last year for my daughter and (sometimes) co-blogger – it just seemed appropriate to share it for MLK Day:

Love Song for My Daughter

When I tell you we have come a long way,
baby,
please remember

I grew up in a world where women had two choices – get married or be pitied;
attended school in a city that stoned school buses
because the children riding them were the wrong color;
came of age in a country that shot its own offspring
when they dared to disagree.
When I tell you we have come a long way, baby,
understand –

I am not saying we dine
on milk and honey tonight. We are nowhere near
the Promised Land. I am not saying
that it’s time to lay our burden down
and greet our just reward,

nor telling you to be content with sour wine
because I had to drink their brackish water.

When you tell me there’s injustice
and I say look where we were
I am not saying we have reached
the journey’s end. When you rage
against the system and I say
look how it’s changed, I am not
telling you be satisfied with
everything we’ve done. When I tell you

we’ve come a long way, baby
I am saying we have come so far
there is no going back. When they push,
push back harder. When they stomp you down,
stomp the yard and raise your voices loud. When they
light a cross on fire, don’t piss on it to put it out –
douse the flames in gasoline and fan them
till the world can’t help but see.
When I say we’ve come a long way,

baby, I am saying we have such a long long
way to go, but we have come too far
to let them stop us now.